4 Acton Froo Press Wednesday Fob 20 press FoundodinlS75 Don McDonald Tic Con it EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT a OarPhoton E on IMows Jon ft ay Darkroom Ken in ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT I Cook Sales Jo no BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE Tho I SI Co M I CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Mary TELEPHONE Business and Editor Office Does board want strike Is Halton Board of Education trying to provoke a strike by its over high school teachers Certain aspects of the board s final offer to the teachers which will be voted on by the members of Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation District Nine Halton tomorrow Thursday indicates the board may just want a strike For the second year in a row bargaining has limped along and contrast to other years profes negotiators have been brought onto the scene Teacher negotiators are recommending the membership reject the board s offer They would appear to have good reason The teachers claim the board s six per cent wage hike plus in add up to six per cent since the contract won t be retroactive The offer would amount to six per cent if it was spread over the entire 10 month school year from September 1979 to the end of June 1980 Chairman of the board s negotiating committee Bill Law son of Milton says the offer be comes effective on the day it is ratified and is not retroactive One assumption that seems to prevail is that rectroactivity is automatic It purely that an assumption declared recently It may be an assumption but it is a pretty normal one Just about all labor agreements are retro active to the time the last pact ex pired Also previous board teacher contracts have been retroactive Teacher negotiator s assess that the six per cent raise spread over just March April May and June would amount to per cent wage hike would appear accurate Another major issue would seem to be retirement gratuity The board wants to get rid of the clause and says in ex change the trustees are willing to hire more teachers Funny thing though say the teachers they can find any mention of the 15 new teacher anywhere the page proposed pact Halton trustees have been talk tough the past few years about protecting their management rights Judging by the board s actions in this year s contract talks it would appear they may want to demonstrate their management rights by forcing the teachers to strike Looking at what has happened elsewhere the board probably realises it won t bear the brunt of public wrath After the kids have been home for a few days because of a strike parents will start to blame greedy teachers But if the facts of the offer given to the press are correct it would appear this time teachers t at fault A six per cent raise considering the state of the economy seems fair An actual per cent raise because the pact won be retroactive t fair Support refuse recycling Acton should welcome and support the Divide and Conquer program when it arrives here this spring The source separation recycling program makes a lot of sense Divide and Conquer means residents must spend a little more time each week preparing their refuse for disposal by the municipality but the benefits for everyone are well worth the extra time and effort The program began as a provincially funded pilot project in Georgetown in the spring of While Queens Park has pulled the financial plug on the project as of the end of engineer Robert Austin has been able to persuade council to sup port the program continuation in Georgetown and expansion into Acton Halton has serious garbage pro Any project which reduces the amount of garbage going into the landfill sites is worthy of strong support With the only dumps in still open located in and Burlington Halton Hills is faced with the enormous cost of trucking refuse to the south The dumps are rapidly filling up and will be closed like the old Acton and Georgetown landfill sites in the not too distant future Each piece of glass tin or news paper which the town is able to collect and sell to recycling firms and not dispose of in the dump means the dumps in the south will be open just that much longer From an environmental stand point recycling is obviously preferable Last year Divide and Conquer produced a deficit of about despite its popularity in Georgetown If more residents in George town supported it and par ticipation was high in Acton too the deficit could be trimmed possibly eliminated and maybe the program could eventually be put in the black A recycling program in the black would be a big plus for all Halton Hills taxpayers The pro fits from Divide and Conquer could be used to reduce the costs of trucking garbage that can be to dumps in the south A tax saving would be worth the time spent on separating glass tin and papers Garbage disposal so far has been strictly a losing proposition Any method that will change that situation is worth a little extra effort Thanks Acton Hydro On March 31 Acton Hydro Com mission will disappear and the next day the new Halton Hills dro Commission will be bom Acton Hydro Commission has been serving and helping this community progress and grow since 1912 At their recent dinner to mark the commission s 68th birthday and reminisce about the great years gone by Mayor Peter Pom eroy spoke of the sincenty of the commission was a member of the commission less than two years but quickly grasped one of the reasons it was able to provide Acton with such an economical and efficient service was the sin centy of the members Acton Hydro commissioners and staff never forgot they were running an essential service for the public They provided the best possible service for the lowest possible cost because they had a deep commitment to the people of Acton Sincerity and commitment to doing an essential job those are the qualities that made Acton Hy one of the best around f Iff f tell ya its simple we give the car to the town they fix it pay insurance and licence we drive it and maybe they even name a street afta us Smiley view of the world cynical Back issues 10 years ago issue of the Wednesday I 1970 two banks will soon be Joined by new ones But it is the new Toronto- Dominion bunk at the corner of Mill and Willow that will change the towns fact most Wreckers arc well on the to demolishing the old office A few yards cist the Dink of Nova Scotia is undergoing a face lifting with bright new w Almost directly across the in the former Morns Pharmacy workmen have started on a reconstruction program for the Imperial Bank of Com Plins are also being made for an addition the Bank of Montreal Further down the street is gelling a new front the railway Iraek a new store is under construction The Dominion Hotel is also undergoing alter Jtions Builders soon hope to remove the I oust the corner of Main and Church streets to make way for five new stores and apartments There is much peculation that big is in the offing for Acton or the district which would require he presence of much money hence the banks Aelon may soon hive its first industry in tin industrial park if the final agreement is signed with Wood Products A presentation was made lo Orwell wb i has resigned as clerk of session of the United He has held in ihc church since the of 20 years ago Taken from the issue of the For the first time in a couple of decades young Canadians are taking more than a casual interest in world affairs Young male teachers arc asking as old veterans wbal wc think about the invasion of Afghan stun of boycotting ihe Olympics whether ihe situation like that when Hitler wis on the march don have the answers of course but il rather interesting sudden interest of these guys who are usually talking about their boats or their snowmobiles or their last victory at r icquet bill or their mortgages And lliey re not the only ones Just Ihe other I was discussing with a Grade 1 class George Orwell Animal Farm that incisive allegory of revolution and totalitarianism least I hud planned lo discuss it Instead we about Russia which led to Afghanistan which led NATO to Chtn to Millers waltz into various vacuums while France and the US stood back and tullutled to a possible invasion of Canada to our pitiful armed forces and a lot of other things The kids were stnous concerned and eager learn more They reminded me of the young people of the early Sixties who were deadly in earnest about the cold war and a possible nuclear holocaust Hut retained heir sense humor 1 wound up by asking jokingly which of the services they would be joining Will you go into the imy novy or Ihc air for One boy riposted I be going into the woods they Idohavesome opinions on the world situation Even Joe Clirk s terrifying threat that Canada would boycott the Olympics will not make Ihem pull out of Afghanistan until they are good and ready probably after they have set up a puppet government ruthlessly ruled from Moscow Why not Because the hard liners have laken over In Russia and they don give a diddle for world opinion at the same time keep ng their own people in dark Secondly nobody has the guts or the stupidity to take them on eyeball to eyeball in Afghanistan any more lhan anyone did when the Russians crushed the liberating climate of Czechoslovakia or steamrollered into the ground the revolution Oh here were cries of dismay from everywhere on those occasions but nobody did anything except wring hands and take in refugees On only two occasions since World War Tl has anyone stood up to Russia On both occasions the Russians cooled it One was when Russia cut off Berlin from the West The western countries responded with Berlin Airlift in the face of Russian threats that the mercy planes would be shot down They were not and Ihc very tense situation resolved itself Another was the Cuban crisis President Kennedy laid it on he line If Russian ships earrying missiles and other ob noxious items to Cuba did not turn around and go home they would be attacked The Russians went right to the brink then backed down But those were the day when NATO had some leeth and the Americans probably bad an edge in nuclear hardware Things are different today In Europe the NATO forces are match for those of the Warsaw Pact in men or About five years ago an American general no head of the chiefs of staff told me pcrsomllj that NATO could hold the Russians for about two weeks The situution today is On world scene the U S has received one black eye after another A stalemated war In Korea A disaster in Vict Nam The propping up of petty die around the world The machinations of the CIA A lot of prestige and a lot of has gone down he drain Bnlain is a third rale power as is France The Scandinavians are wiry of disturbing the bear Germany west is lough and wealthy but vulnerable from within and without Japan sits on its can making money while by he American military is big question mark India he same The Moslem world is nol going to take on So who s to stop them I predict thai hey will consolidate in Afghmistan wilh little opposition then cool things down for a few yeirs hough keeping brush fires going in Africa and elsewhere before making their next move possiblly to squash Yugoslavia As for Canadi pulling out of the Olympics unless he great ijonty of nations the Soviet bloc follow suit it would make as much difference one way or the other as i flea an elephant mm by Murray Last year a proposed plain cast of Acton was a big Issue It still a subject of debate and will undoubtedly be raised again in the future Well according W Roger Worth director of Public Affairs for the Canadian I of Independent Business shopping centres Is a subject of con discussion right across country He says governments in several provinces arc taking a second look at the economic and social Impact of he massive shopping centre developments that have permanently changed the face of the Canadian landscape Worth notes Prince Edward Island which have all that much room to waste on plazas anyway passed legls lotion placing a moratorium on new mall developments Another province Nova has lightened up regulations governing plaza development and Quebec and our western provinces arc considering Inking the same steps He says overbuilding has resulted from tbcprollfcratianof plazas and malls Even small communities have plains Traditional independent businesses in downtown cores of Canada communities are caught in he middle of the shopping centre fray Worth says He complains hat mall owners really Interested in having small in dependent businesses as tenants more than per cent of businesses in shopping centres are owned by major national com panics Hie odds arc stacked against smaller downtown retailers 11 time every provincial government In country reassessed policies on such developments Canada s traditional In dependent merchants deserve lo be reiied fairly Worth declared in a recent article he penned Aetonlans can help their heart in two this month Its an established fact hat lugging excess weight all day puts a strain on Ihc heart February is also heart in Acton and there Is a campaign on to raise funds for cardiovascular research Well during heart Weight Watchers will donate 1 for each new member signed up to heart fund Your weight loss is cardiovascular patient gain Last year Weight Watchers 137 12 to the heart fund In past years he money was donated on the basis of 10 cents for every shed pound by Weight Wnlchcrs members in February The new program of donated on behalf of each new member de- emphasizes the losca lion aspect of raising money for the heart fund Divide and Conquer a voluntary source separation recycling garbage program In in Georgetown since 1978 will expand to Acton this April But should it bo mandatory Kilborn a consulting company has urged region sponsor a mandatory source separation program in all four municipalities In marketing the separated materials The idea behind he report on solid and waste management is to move which has severe garbage problems away from landfill and sludge operations to a point where waste recovery will even pay for itself and dumps are used for only a small percentage of the garbage collected in January 1 Cook tendered his resigna lion as mayor after five years His new position with government docs not allow him to take an elected position tie and his wife and two daughlers moved to Aclon in assumes duties of the ead f the municipality until an appoint is made Alice in Wonderhnd was Staged by pupils of he M Bennett school Mane icled as and hose with lead roles included Linda Bra da Philip Sirgent Christine Lawrence Lynda David Ralph Mai hews John Dunn Julie Raymond Christine Lawrence Beverley Scynuck Donm John Jim Ware Brian Scutt Masters Ceroid Dick David Lidkea Open House was held in Ihe new Aclon tree Press building Correspondents who attended were Mrs Mrs Benton Mrs Marching ton Mrs G Robertson Mrs W Thompson Mrs Harvey and Richard Hims were Mrs K C Neville Mrs E and Mrs Grover Mack The Hi club weekly dance was again i success with Mr and Mrs Charles chape rones 50 years ago T iken from Ihe Issue of Ihe Free Press Thursday 1M0 It wis with righteous indignation surging in them hat a special train carrying and the band went to Gait on Monday night to sec the final tame between Aelon ind Pans eims Before the J W Jones and Dr E J Nelson presented the team with a floral horseshoe Bui Pans won and Acton was eliminated Oh well Pretty fair for he first yeir A delcgutlnn of en were present at he council meeting to discuss he advisability of engaging a night watch man to patrol the streets in Council passed a nearly vote of hanks to and Co and Acton Tanning Co for their considerable and m building of arena They allowed their engineer Mr Hansen and r superintendent Mr McDonald draft the plans and supervise all work and I a very favorable contract 100 years ago Taken from the Issue of he Free Press Thursday A grand Will be given in the Town Hall on Monday in aid of the singing class of that place Ellen Pierce he crazy woman who was brought from Georgetown to Milton Jail died on Tuesday The decided her death was due to typhoid fever brought on by starvation and previous exposure A barber named J Wilson from more came to last week to pur chase the business of Mr John He worked one day and having made three or four dollars concluded to visit some friends In Kentucky Tennessee and left during Ihe night forgetting to settle his board and printing bills as well as several others are Informed he was arrested at and laken to the Central Prison Toronto